Physics 19
Fall 2003
Instructor:
Office:
Chad Orzel
Room N334, NWSE
388-8053
orzelc@union.edu
Textbook: Modern Physics for Scientists and Engineers, Thornton and Rex
Description: This course provides an introduction to the central concepts of “Modern
Physics,” particularly Special Relativity and Quantum Mechanics, with some discussion
of topics in atomic, molecular, nuclear, and solid state physics. The emphasis in this
course will be on the fundamental concepts and principles, with more in-depth discussion
of the mathematical formalism provided in higher-level courses (Physics 51, 140, 160,
66).
This is primarily a lecture course, with weekly homework assignments and labs.
Course Web Page: http://idol.union.edu/~orzelc/Phys19.html
Grading: The final grade will be determined from the various elements of the course
with the following weights (more detail on the individual items is provided below):
Hour Exams (2)
30% total
Final Exam (2 hrs)
30% total
Lab Grade
20% total
Homework
20% total
Exams: There will be two exams given during the term, each approximately one hour
long. The exams will be given during the class period.
Tentative Exam Schedule:
Exam 1: Friday, September 19
Exam 2: Wednesday, October 22
You should make every effort to avoid conflicts with these exams. If there is an
unavoidable conflict with one of these exams, you must confer with me in advance. Be
warned: make-up exams naturally tend to be harder than the original, so your best option
would be to reschedule the other end of the conflict.
Questions on the exams will be similar in nature to the homework problems, and
will emphasize problem solving. Your best preparation for the exams will be doing the
homework problems.
Final Exam: The final exam will take about two hours, and will be cumulative. You can
take the final exam only at the time scheduled by the Registrar. DO NOT purchase plane
tickets for home or vacation for a date before the end of exam period until you learn the
final exam schedule.
Labs: Labs for Physics 19 will be handled by Professor Rebecca Surman
(surmanr@union.edu, 388-6344). Lab policies and grading will be discussed in lab.
However, please note that while the labs count for only 20% of the total course grade, by
department policy, you must have a passing lab grade to pass the course.
Homework: Homework problems are assigned because the only way to really learn
physics is through doing problems. Your performance on the exams will be directly
related to how much effort you put into doing the homework—if you do all the
assignments and understand how the problems are solved, you will most likely score well
on the exams. The assignments will be divided into two categories: “nightly”
assignments, due at the next class meeting, and “weekly” assignments, due a week after
they are assigned.
1) Nightly Homework: Homework sets of a few short problems (generally drawn
from the textbook) will be assigned each class, due the following class. These will
generally be straightforward exercises drawing directly on the material covered in
lecture. They’re intended to get you thinking about the material, and working on
applying the concepts discussed in class while the material is still fresh in your
mind.
The nightly assignments will be graded solely on whether you attempted the
problems—one point will be awarded for each problem you attempt, regardless of
whether you get the correct final answer or not. Nightly homework grades will
count as 5% of the total grade.
2) Weekly Homework: Homework sets of a few more complicated problems will be
assigned each week. The weekly assignments will be much more involved, and
more difficult than the nightly assignments, and may require you to put together
ideas from a couple of different lecture topics and nightly homework assignments,
or make approximations in order to calculate something about a “realistic”
situation, or go through the algebraic details of a proof discussed in class. The
idea of these problems is to get you to “think like a physicist,” and try to
understand the topics discussed in class as more than a scattered collection of
equations.
Weekly assignments will be graded in more detail, based on getting the
correct answers (with lots of partial credit), and will count for 15% of the total
grade. After the weekly assignments are handed back, you will have the option to
correct your answers, and hand the corrected assignment back in for up to half the
lost points (i.e., an assignment which received a score of 80/100 could be
corrected and handed back in to boost the score to a maximum of 90/100).
Corrected weekly homeworks will be accepted for re-grading only at the next
class meeting after they are handed back.
The main purpose of both categories of homework is to help you learn the
material, and how to apply the concepts discussed in class to model the behavior of
physical systems. Completing these problem sets will be your best preparation for the
mid-term and final exams. Exam problems will tend to be more straightforward than the
weekly homework, but somewhat more complicated than the nightly assignments.
Group Work: You are strongly encouraged to work on the homework assignments in
groups, particularly on the weekly assignments. Your final answers must be in your own
words, and you should be sure to include the names of the other students you worked
with when handing assignments in, but group work is encouraged.
Working with others is usually a great help, as different students have different
strengths. For example, one student may have a good grasp of the basic concepts, and
understand how to set up the problems, but have trouble doing the math; another student
may be a math whiz, but have trouble seeing how to get started with the physics of the
problem. Together, they will be able to solve most problems, and will learn more from
the assignments by working together to solve the whole problem than they would by
working on their own and getting stuck.
Assignments: Homework assignments will be announced in class, and also posted on the
web site. At the end of each week, the solutions will be made available on the web, and
given to the students running the Physics Help Center so that they can be used in studying
for exams. No homework will be accepted after the due date.
Academic Honesty: As noted above, you are encouraged to work on the homework in
small groups. In the lab portion of the class, you will necessarily work in groups.
However, the final products (i.e., whatever you hand in for a grade) must be your own
work, and reflect your own knowledge. Homework and lab reports must be written in
your own words. DO NOT copy from another student. Written assignments with identical
or nearly identical wording will be referred to the Deans as plagiarized.
Exams and quizzes will be closed-book affairs, so, of course, you must work
alone without reference to any other materials. Simple scientific calculators are
permitted, but should not be required for the quizzes. Programmable graphing calculators
are not allowed.